| Summary: |
Space is a salient feature of the process of memory. Space is a foundation of the mnemonic process. Architecture is space, movingly and dancingly experienced. In the rural as well as the urban context, in the nomadic as well as the sedentary context, in both interior and exterior space, objects help define spaces by establishing visual boundaries and by establishing a continuity of associative meanings. Perception through the conversion of visual experience into metaphors for other kinds of social and cultural experience is transmitted through generations.
By focusing on very specific African nomadic object types and their architectural transformations, I will illustrate how the articulation and organization of objects in a defined space---armatures, furnishings, woven materials such as textiles and basketry –are assembled into an architectural composite. Initially perceived as discrete objects in the nomadic context, they retain the same symbolic intent and associative meaning when they are integrated into the fixed architectonic realm, thus establishing formal continuity in time and space. Not only is the architecture of nomadism enduring, it can become, in many ways, an inspiring model for the future.
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